The long walk from Hargeon back to Magnolia made her fair, toned legs ache, but it was well worth it. A burlap sack slung over the girl's left shoulder carried a total of three hundred thousand jewel; the reward from a job in the small port town. The other arm held her small bag of personal belongings: hygiene necessities, extra clothing, and snacks to satisfy the growling stomachs of her and her partner. Speaking of the partnership, her best friend and Exceed slept peacefully on her head, messing up her brunette hair as she walked. All of the extra weight only made the pain of the journey worse but she would rather die than take the train. Her extreme motion sickness wouldn't allow it.
With incredible strength comes incredible weaknesses.
It was the trait that all dragon slayers shared, though hers was almost triple the agony. That is why she and Leese, her taupe-furred friend, either flew with her wings or walked. Sure, it made them tired but also strengthened them. The train never used to bother her much because they'd always had the blue-haired angel named Wendy to use Troia, a healing magic, on them. That was seven years ago. They still find it hard to believe that Fairy Tail had lost its family all that time ago. It feels like just yesterday she was hiding behind the bar with Mira to stay out of the adults' fights.
It feels like just yesterday they were saying goodbye to them on the boat.
The nostalgia made her feel dizzy but she continued trotting forward as Magnolia came into view. She lightly shook Leese awake from her wavy brown locks.
"You think you can fly us the rest of the way?" she asked softly.
"Sure," she yawned, "why not?" The exceed summoned her Aera and latched onto the back of the girl's slightly torn up, black halter-top. Her combat boots were lifted off the ground and high into the atmosphere. Her legs trailed behind her torso as they flew toward the small barn with speed. The cool air made her shorts stick against her skin and her long hair tickle her lower back.
As they touched the ground again, the soreness instantly returned. They trudged toward the main doors that led to their makeshift bar to find them open. She could hear new voices inside making a ruckus and being loud. The soreness disappeared as she ran inside, ready to fight if necessary. Instead of being bombarded with punches and men, the usual mages of Twilight Ogre ran out holding their injuries and crying about getting revenge. Her violet eyes trailed over the large number of people in Fairy Tail's minuscule bar and rested upon a group that hadn't changed in seven years.
Team Tenrou all looked toward her questionably, but one scarlet-haired mage approached with a smile. Her arms wrapped around the girl tightly with her head rested on the shoulder of her cold, metal armor. Water formed in her purple eyes as she instinctively raised her arms to return the gesture.
"We're home, Rin," she said smoothly. The familiar voice made tears draw lines on the girl's cheeks. She pulled away and Rin immediately reached out to her again, scared she would disappear. Erza grabbed her hand and held it softly. "Don't worry, I'm not leaving." Rin looked at her teammates and found all the people she used to look up to as a child. It felt weird staring at them from this height since she had only ever looked up to them.
"W-Welcome home!" she cried out. Lucy, Levy, Wendy, Cana, Lisanna, and Mira all grabbed her into a tight hug while the boys smiled from the sidelines.
"You're so grown up," mused Gray.
"Yeah! Just yesterday I was carrying you around on my shoulders," added Natsu.
"Yeah, um, about that," Rin began but I was halted by Alzack.
"Don't worry about it. We already told them." The brunette sent him a small smile and looked at Romeo who was crying and smiling for the first time in the past seven years. Rin grabbed him and brought him into a loose headlock as she messed with his hair.
"What are those tears for?" she teased. "This is a happy occasion!"
"You're one to talk!" The boy sniffled and laughed with her. After they had finished messing around, Rin found the two knucklehead dragon slayers eyeing her.
"What?"
"Rin... You feel stronger- GA!" Gajeel was shoved aside into a table by the pinkette.
"FIGHT ME!" interrupted Natsu. She smirked at the two.
"If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you get," she challenged. "But we're gonna take this outside." Rin strutted her way outside into the open field where they could fight without causing too much damage.
"Oi, Rin! We just finished a job and you were exhausted five minutes ago!" Leese called out. The Dragon Slayer shrugged her off and continued to the side. The guild crowded around as she stood about fifteen yards from the other two.
"Two on one? That's not fair," Rin heard in the crowd of people. She only smiled.
"Come at me." Gajeel stepped back as Natsu charged her head on. His punches and strikes were easy to dodge but became harder and harder as he grew slightly frustrated. She quickly swept at his ankles and knocked him over and stepped back as he stood up, looking a bit annoyed. "Remember, this is a fun fight. No need to get so angry," Rin said playfully. He only gave a devious smirk.
Gajeel threw a punch at her head from behind which she still managed to dodge.
"I can hear your footsteps. Sneak attacks aren't going to work." The two were both starting to get irritated and they hadn't even started using their magic yet. Natsu growled as he charged her again, this time with flames wrapped around his fists.
He punched and punched, each attempt with the intent to actually hurt her. Rin was having trouble avoiding his flames as they began singeing her clothes. She jumped into the air to avoid any more direct attacks, however, Gajeel followed her up with his Iron Dragon's Sword equipped and attempted to slice her back to the ground. She finally revealed her magic to move a rock from the ground to come hit him.
They both fell to the ground, Rin landing the fall and Gajeel crashing into the hard ground. Everyone that had just returned from Tenroujima were all bewildered at what had happened while the others all stood with grins on their faces.
"Who threw a rock at me?!" Gajeel asked, clearly pissed off.
"No, it was Rin. You weren't with us for long so I'm not surprised you don't remember, Gajeel," Erza began to explain. "It's her magic."
"I guess it's time to stop toying with you guys. I'll end this right away." Rin held out her hands to her sides, similar to when Erza would requip. She focused magic on her palms and two black spheres appeared. They hovered about an inch from her hand and had magic power radiating off of them.
Natsu and Gajeel suddenly had a purple aura surrounding them. Rin raised her arms slightly and the two dragon slayers lifted from the ground. She brought her hands together, the orbs combining into one, slightly larger sphere on her right palm as she dropped her left back to her side. The two boys were smashed together as she swiped her hand down with speed. The two crashed into the ground making a small crater in the earth.
There were gasps of the bystanding guild members as the dust settled. Gajeel and Natsu laid sprawled out on the ground but were still conscious.
"T-The," Natsu panted, "Telekinetic... Dragon Slayer." Natsu released a hearty laugh from his chest which made Rin's heart swell since she hadn't heard it in so long. Everyone cheered at her strength and ran up to her impressed. Cana shrugged over and yelled out to everyone.
"Let's celebrate with some drinks!" The brunette threw her hands in the air as the adults all followed, being rowdy as if those seven years never went by. Lucy and Levy helped the two fallen dragons up and helped them walk into the bar after Wendy healed them. Erza put her arm around Rin's shoulders and walked with her.
"You've grown a lot stronger, huh?" she asked with a soft tone, almost like a sister.
"Seven years of growing and training. I had to. No one else could protect the guild, and my magic is made for protecting."
"Or destroying," she joked. Rin chuckled lightly. "How old are you now?"
"Nineteen." Erza's face dropped and her eyes began watering. "W-What?"
"My little sister is the same age as me!" Rin laughed at her and gave her a tight side hug.
"I'll always be your little sister." They traded genuine smiles as they entered the barn.
"Haven't seen you smile like that in seven years," Macao stated. Erza looked at the girl questionably since she hadn't fired back at the old man.
"Things have been tough and bringing in money for the guild doesn't offer much downtime or smiling," she told the redhead. "That, and it was really hard knowing you weren't around anymore." Rin then grinned at Macao. "And he was a lousy Master. I felt like I was in charge half the time," she joked. The guild all laughed while the blue-haired man scowled playfully.
"Shut up, Rin."
That night, they all partied and drank their hearts out, not thinking twice about a certain festival that approached them. The upsetting memories of the games didn't haunt them and they didn't hear the remnants of the crowd's booing. They all enjoyed each other as if they were back in the year X784 and the capital didn't make them fight for power titles.
But as the liquor faded, all of these thoughts came back. Especially the ones of a certain guild with certain mages that Rin wishes she could let loose on.
Three months.
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Welcome to my new book! As you can see on the cover, this is a Sting Eucliffe x OC (Rin) but it will happen towards the end because I wanted to make a character whose main focus was family.
I hope you enjoy my writing!